The goal of this discussion paper is to examine the relevance of selected influential theoretical and conceptual approaches to regional competitiveness for specific geographical and institutional contexts of Central European (CE) regions. We argue that strategic documents and policies (both nation- and region-wide) in CE countries are based on un-critical applications of a few popular concepts of competitiveness that were originally proposed and mainly applied in Western European and US regions. Existing empirical evidence documents a strong role of exogenous factors of competitiveness in CE regions, the in-house character of firm innovations and weak demand for innovations, and other impediments of R&D collaboration. We suggest that these (and other factors) limit the applicability of concepts such as regional innovation systems and Porterian clusters in the context of many CE regions. On the other hand, we argue that some other concepts such as the global production networks perspective or related variety and economic complexity can provide some relevant and inspiring frameworks for analysing regional competitiveness in CE countries.
Abstract There have been many studies focused on regional resilience and its particular determinants at regional level such as population size, industry mix, specialization/diversity, firm size structure, export orientation or institutions. Our research question is: which types of regions are more resilient: metropolitan or non-metropolitan regions, urban cores or hinterlands, peripheral, branch plant or single factory regions? These questions were examined in our case study of post-crisis (2009-2014) economic development of Czech city-regions. We propose a typology of city-regions based on particularities in economic structure, key actors and mechanisms of development. Eight main categories of Czech city-regions were distinguished: metropolitan cores, metropolitan hinterlands, medium-sized urban regions with metropolitan functions, peripheral city- regions, single factory city-regions dominated by a large domestic manufacturing firm, “ordinary” diversified industrial city-regions, lower and higher-tiered branch plant regions dominated mostly by foreign-owned manufacturing assembly plants. We conducted a quantitative analysis focused on differences among the above mentioned types of regions in the dynamics of post-crisis growth of value added and employment in agriculture, industry, construction and business services. Empirical results show that differences in resilience among particular types of regions were relatively small. Surprisingly, single-factory city-regions and higher-tiered branch plant regions exhibited the most rapid pace of recovery, while the metropolitan cores and hinterlands lagged behind significantly.
### A1 Intratumoral immunotherapy. B16-F10 murine melanoma model
#### J. Ženka1, V. Caisova1, O. Uher1, P. Nedbalova1, K. Kvardova1, K. Masakova1, G. Krejcova1, L. Paďoukova1, I. Jochmanova2, K. I. Wolf3, J. Chmelař1, J. Kopecký1
##### 1Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of
We examine the association between industrial structure and regional economic resilience during five different crises in Czechia, focusing on the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian war. The effects of economic diversity, sectoral structure, factor intensity of production, and firm size structure on regional resistance were tested. We found that regional patterns of resistance varied significantly from one crisis to another. There were only two major cases where a positive association with regional resistance turned into a negative from one shock to another: public services that absorbed unemployment during the Great Recession and shed labour in the austerity crisis, and capital-intensive industries that exhibited a positive statistical effect on regional resistance during the transitionary shock and the Great Recession, while their contribution to regional labour markets during the Covid-19 pandemic and the War was negative.
This paper examines international relocation determinants of Czech manufacturing companies in order to estimate the probability of potential delocalizations. The research is based on statistical evaluation of internal keep-factors (particular company features strengthening the location inertia of manufacturing), which are divided into three main groups - capital intensity, complexity of value chain and business sophistication. Keep-factors were examined on the company level and represented by six financial indicators. The sample covers 692 Czech manufacturing companies (foreign owned) with one hundred or more employees. The main goal is to identify branches of manucaturing threatened by delocalization. Manufacturing companies with low capital intensity, low value added/output ratio, high relative wages expenditures and no R&D activities are regarded as footloose - with high probability of potential relocation.
Abstract Drawing on a highly detailed database of anonymized tax returns (N = 400,000) from Czechia (2008–2020), we aim to describe and explain regional patterns in individual giving. The key research question is to what extent regional differences are shaped by individual factors and to what extent by factors at the regional level, including regional economic performance and structure (industrial, ownership), position in the urban hierarchy, human and social capital, rurality, and political preferences. Czechia is a relatively small, developed, and ethnically homogeneous country, with a centralised tax system. Potential regional differences in individual giving are likely to be driven by particularities of economic structure and/or social capital. Hierarchical linear regression models with fixed effects were employed to distinguish the effects of these two groups of factors.
Abstract Policies in liberal democracies can never be fully sheltered from the influence of interest groups. This is especially true for the flawed or immature democracies that can be found also in the post-communist world. In this study, we argue that the progress of democratization in Czechia has been accompanied by a growing influence of interest groups (local/regional governments, political parties, industrial corporations) on national defence strategy. Focusing on the spatial policy of military base distribution, the study documents deviations from a rational strategy of restructuring and relocations of military bases declared by the General Staff in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s in response to a changing geopolitical situation. The content analysis of the interviews with former actors of the defence planning and media analysis showed that one-third of current Czech military bases experienced an influence of interested groups.
The Jakarta metropolitan region (the Jakarta megacity), located in the fourth most populous country in the world (Indonesia), is the largest urban agglomeration in the Global South—continues to grow, especially in its outer suburbs (Bekasi Regency). The governments (Central and Local) tend to implement an urban-biased policy (UBP) to connect Bekasi Regency into global production networks and boost Bekasi Regency’s income. However, previous case studies of China and Vietnam have revealed that the UBP increases economic disparities between urban and rural areas. Therefore, this study probes urban–rural economic disparities and their characteristics at a microregional level (desa/kelurahan) in the Bekasi Regency. The methods applied in this study are geographically weighted regression (GWR), RULT index, and quantitative zoning. The results show that almost all desa/kelurahan in the high poverty (HPv) cluster are rural neighborhoods (desa/kelurahan with rural characteristics). By contrast, only 5% of desa/kelurahan with urban characteristics are HPvs, while the remainder are in the low poverty (LPv) cluster. Rural neighborhoods with HPv tend to have a high percentage of households dependent on agriculture. Thus, empirical results (with a case of a Global South megacity suburb) further support previous evidence that the UBP has caused urban–rural economic disparities.
